ARTICLES ABOUT GRAVEL MINE BY DATE - PAGE 3

A McHenry County judge on Friday quashed a lawsuit filed by opponents of a gravel pit operation near Hebron, allowing work to continue at the site. Circuit Court Judge Haskell M. Pitluck dismissed all five counts in the complaint with prejudice, which means the opponents cannot bring the issue back to court at the circuit level. However, an appeal of Pitluck's decision can be filed with the 2nd District Appellate Court in Elgin. "Obviously we're totally upset with the decision," said Peter Arroyo, who owns land adjacent to the site and is president of McHenry County Concerned Citizens for Quality Land Use. Arroyo's group had filed the lawsuit in August along with Hebron Township; the village of Hebron; and Filtertek Inc., seeking to reverse the McHenry County Board's 12-11 vote granting James S. Tonyan a conditional-use permit to operate the mine on 225 acres at Illinois Highway 173 and Kemman Road.

Tons of dirt have been moved around and berms have taken shape at the Linden Lakes Sand and Gravel mine near Hebron, but the most important work on the pit will take place Friday in a McHenry County courtroom. Circuit Court Judge Haskell M. Pitluck is scheduled to announce his decision at 10 a.m. on whether to toss out a lawsuit filed by opponents of the gravel pit to stop work on the 225 acres at Illinois Highway 173 and Kemman Road. If the lawsuit is dismissed, the opponents will have an opportunity to amend the complaint to bolster their case, said Jim Bishop, one of their attorneys.

An upscale single-family home development with wooded lots and hilly terrain has been proposed for 105 acres between Barreville and Valley View Roads, just north of Illinois Highway 176 in Prairie Grove. Village officials gave initial approval for engineering and planning of the new subdivision. The developer, Timberhill Development Co. of Crystal Lake, plans to build 85 home sites of approximately 1 acre each. The company consists of three local partners, Bill Franz, Ron Prather and Marshall Lowe.

Both sides in the debate over the Linden Lakes Sand and Gravel mine near Hebron squared off in court Friday over the legality of the mine, but the combatants in the yearlong fight will have to wait another week for the decision. After a hearing that lasted over two hours, McHenry County Circuit Court Judge Haskell M. Pitluck announced that he will rule on the matter next Friday. Attorneys for pit operator James S. Tonyan and the county tried to persuade Pitluck that the lawsuit filed by pit opponents should be tossed out. The opponents are seeking to have the County Board's vote granting the conditional use permit reversed.

A McHenry County judge may settle once and for all Friday the future of the Linden Lakes Sand and Gravel mine near Hebron. A hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. before Circuit Court Judge Haskell M. Pitluck on whether to void the 12-11 vote in July by the McHenry County Board that granted a conditional-use permit to James S. Tonyan to operate the gravel mine on 225 acres at Illinois Highway 173 and Kemman Road. County Board member Joanne Simes did not vote because she was a co-petitioner for the permit and sold the land for the mine to Tonyan.

An upscale single-family home development with wooded lots and hilly terrain has been proposed for 105 acres between Barreville and Valley View Roads, just north of Illinois Highway 176 in Prairie Grove. Village officials gave initial approval last week for engineering and planning of the new subdivision. The developer, Timberhill Development Co. of Crystal Lake, plans to build 85 homesites on approximately 1 acre each. The company consists of three local partners, Bill Franz, Ron Prather and Marshall Lowe.

An upscale single-family home development with wooded lots and hilly terrain has been proposed for 105 acres between Barreville and Valley View Roads, just north of Illinois Highway 176 in Prairie Grove. Village officials gave initial approval last week for engineering and planning of the new subdivision. The developer, Timberhill Development Co. of Crystal Lake, plans to build 85 homesites on approximately 1 acre each. Home prices will begin at $350,000, Prather said.

A McHenry County judge Thursday denied a temporary restraining order sought by opponents of a controversial gravel pit near Hebron to block site preparation for mining on the land. In denying the order, Judge Haskell M. Pitluck said the petition to stop work at the site needed factual evidence as to what harm would result if the work were to continue. "You have to say more in the petition than irreparable harm will result," Pitluck said. James Bishop, the attorney for the opponents, said he was nonetheless pleased, because Pitluck set a hearing date for Tuesday on a motion for a preliminary injunction to revoke the conditional-use permit granted by the county board for the mining operation.

Turning aside the protests of dozens of Hebron-area residents, the McHenry County Board on Tuesday night gave the green light to a controversial gravel pit. By a 12-11 vote, the board approved the conditional-use permit sought by James S. Tonyan to operate the Linden Lakes Sand and Gravel mine on 226 acres along Illinois Highway 173 at Kemman Road, just east of Hebron. One condition placed on the permit was that Tonyan not mine about 80 acres on the western border of the property.

While hundreds of Hebron residents anxiously awaited a long-expected decision on a proposed gravel pit near their homes, the McHenry County Board instead delayed the vote until next month. Dan Curran, the attorney representing gravel pit operator James Tonyan, sent a letter to County Board Chairman Dianne Klemm asking that the vote be postponed because not all the 24 board members were at Friday's special meeting. Board members Michael Brown (R-Crystal Lake) and Alex Orsolini (R-Richmond)